Leaders from the secular movement are praising a new resource they say will help them be better understood in the media and in society. To help journalists cover secular Americans, the news service ReligionLink has unveiled a comprehensive source guide focused on American nonbelievers titled "Freethinkers: A source guide to atheists, humanists and other nontheists." It is the first comprehensive resource for people interested in learning about nontheists in the country.

The project was initiated by the Stiefel Freethought Foundation, an organization which provides strategic and financial assistance to the freethought movement. It officially marked its launch two weeks ago with a $50,000 gift to help the Secular Student Alliance support atheist teenagers.

Said Foundation president Todd Steifel, "The American public deserves the chance to get to know their nontheistic neighbors - their fellow Americans - and find that we are a community of loving, moral and joyful people. This resource can give journalists the tools they need to tell our story in full."

The news was hailed as an indication of growing nontheistic influence by the Secular Coalition for America, the national organization that advocates for church-state separation and for the advancement of Secular Americans in national policy.

"Secular Americans will play an increasingly prominent role in the national discourse, and so this new resource is both welcome and necessary. In the media and in Washington we will increasingly speak out for human rights when they are infringed upon by the commingling of church and state," said Sean Faircloth, Executive Director of Secular Coalition for America. "There are at least 30 million nontheistic Americans. That number is growing and the media wants to know more about us."

Earlier this year, the Secular Coalition for America, became the first such organization to engage in a formal briefing with White House officials. All 10 of the Secular Coalition's member organizations are featured in the source guide.

ReligionLink.com, a nonpartisan and nonsectarian service of Religion Newswriters, terms itself "the only religion story idea and source list resource by journalists, for journalists."